Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, allegedly punched a man in a supermarket after visiting his town to commiserate with the victims of the country’s worst mining disaster, eyewitnesses have told The Telegraph.

The filmed incident - which happened a day after an accident that claimed the lives of around 300 people - cast further doubt on the Turkish leader’s judgment after the emergence of separate footage showing one of his aides kicking a protester in Soma on the same day.

Opposition politicians said Taner Kuruca, the victim, worked as a coal miner for the same company that owns the stricken mine.

Wednesday’s episode happened after Mr Erdogan and several bodyguards sought refuge in the fruit and vegetable section of the Yesel Portakal supermarket in Soma, a few miles from the scene of the disaster, after a crowd of protesters shouted abuse at the prime minister.

The Turkish leader - his face showing anger, according to witnesses - apparently lashed out at Mr Kuruca in the belief that he was one of the protesters, said one woman, who would only give her first name, Nazan.

“The guy was just shopping, he had no relationship to the demonstration,” said Nazan, 45. “I was standing three or four yards away, I saw it all clearly. The prime minister seemed very angry with the man and was shouting something incoherently which I couldn’t understand.

“The man looked totally shocked at being punched. The blow was really hard. Afterwards, I saw Erdogan’s bodyguards kicking him and another man really hard in the groin.”

As Nazan spoke outside the supermarket in Ataturk Street, Soma’s main shopping thoroughfare, a group of men shouted “liar”, “provocateur” and “don’t misrepresent our country to others” at her. Several employees of the supermarket claimed not to have seen the incident.

But another woman who witnessed the incident, Havva, 34, said she would no longer vote for Mr Erdogan, whom she had previously supported.

“I saw him raise his hand but I didn’t see the punch landing,” she said. “It was not appropriate behaviour for a prime minister. We are all feeling great sadness here and our hearts are breaking but rather than share our emotions, he behaves like this. It would have been better if he hadn’t come.”

Mr Erdogan's security team was said to have removed the supermarket's CCTV footage of the incident.

Mr Kuruca - who has been pictured in local media taking part in kick-boxing training - told Turkey’s Kanal D TV station that Mr Erdogan had struck him “involuntarily” and said he would not press charges.

But Erdal Semici, an official for the opposition National Movement Party (MHP), said he had been warned by Mr Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) - which is said to be close to the mine-owners - against speaking out.

The fallout from the incident came as thousands of protesters in Soma clashed on Friday with heavily-armed riot police, some of whom had been drafted in from Bursa, more than 300 miles away.

Security forces fired water cannon and tear gas at demonstrators who gathered outside the city’s municipal headquarters Demonstrators responded by ironically applauding and heckling mass ranks of officers who marched slowly towards the city’s landmark miners’ monument in a show of force.

Crowds chanted “Don’t sleep Soma, if you keep silent next time it will be your turn” as demonstrators and police faced each other in a tense stand-off.